New character Rainbow Mika (R.Mika) has been revealed as the 8th playable character for the upcoming Street Fighter 5. The trailer was shown off at PAX 2015 after being hinted at by producer Yoshinori Ono earlier in the week.

Mika is a returning character from the Street Fighter Alpha series, joining Birdy as the only 2 characters who were introduced in the Alpha series in the game so far. Mika is the first wrestler character to be introduced in Street Fighter 5.

According to Capcom, Mika's V-Trigger seems to be the ability to tag in her wrestling partner from various directions in order to set up or continue combos or to set up command grabs. The direction you are holding when activating the V.Trigger will determine the angle of attack from Mika’s tag team partner Nadeshiko.

R.Mika's critical art incorporates Nadeshiko.

Her V. Skill is in fitting with the wrestling theme in which Mika gives a monologue to the crowd which buffs the power of her throws depending how long you hold down the V-trigger. Similar to the focus mechanic in Street Fighter 4, you will be able to absorb a single hit whilst in this state. On canceling the V. Skill, you throw the microphone at the opponent.

Capcom has stated that R. Mika will be playable in a build of Street Fighter 5 at PAX Prime this week.

Quick Take

This recent announcement seems to go along with the leaks to Siliconera that predicted Mika’s inclusion along with Karin, another female fighter from the Street Fighter Alpha series and Alex and Urien returning from Street Fighter 3rd Strike. Capcom announced that there will be a 16 character starting roster. R. Mika marks the 10th character announced so far. It does seem a little strange that we only have one entirely new character revealed so far, Necalli. Hopefully we will see some original character reveals on top of the returning fan favorites.